Aged Care Nurses Exposed to High Levels Of Violence - New Study

A study conducted by the Australian Catholic University confirms previous reseach, reporting that nurses are exposed to high levels of verbal abuse and physical assault and for aged care nurses, violence at work is at a high level.

Over 250 nurses caring for the elderly were questioned about the type and levels of violence they suffered. More than one third of respondants said they had been physically assaulted by a resident or one of their family during their past five shifts, almost the same number had been verbally threatened and 29% had been verbally abused.

Operation of zero tolerance policies did not appear to significantly reduce levels of violent incidents, but the study found that allowing nurses more control over their work and how it was carried out did result in a reduction in reported violence levels.